AMPUS NEWS _ wroxawwrsm THE DAILY VOICE, THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014 3 Top: Angel Wong’s piece “Golden Arter- ies,” which was rated “excel- lent” by the Professional Photographers of Canada. Bottom: “Drink of the Gods” by Gaelan Glenn was rated “merit”. Photo-imaging Students ace photo contest Photo-imaging students get their work recognized by pro photo organization By ERIN BOE o Langara professional photo- imaging students were pleased to receive major recognition from the Professional Photogra- phers of Canada in a competition re- cently held on campus. Angel Wong re- ceived an “excel- lent” for her work, “Golden Arteries,” while Gaelan Glenn received a “merit” for “Drink of the Gods.” In the contest a GAELAN GLENN five-judge panel Photo-imaging are given blind en- student tries so they are unaware if the im- age was done professionally or by a student. There are four levels in the competition: “unaccepted”, “accepted”, “merit”, and “excellent”. “It feels awesome to get some recog- nition for the work we put into this pro- gram,” Wong said. “I feel really grate- ful I was able to win this award. I was surprised by it because I never thought I would get such a high ranking.” Wong praised the professional pho- to-imaging program for its focus on technical skills and allowing students to become familiar with a variety of photography equipment. Glenn said he was “pretty excited” to win his first photography award. He said his image was from a previous se- mester’s project, where students had to photograph a beverage. He said he was inspired by a Toronto > - ea 4 photographer’s picture of a Guinness bottle, which, encased in cracking ice, looked as if it was surrounded by light- ning. Glenn, who hopes to work as a pho- tographer’s assistant after graduation, said he has begun building a photo wall at his house with images he’s taken. Professional photo-imaging instruc- tor and assistant chair David Scougal praised the students’ achievement. “Out of the thousand images, I be- lieve there [were] only twelve ‘excel- lents’ awarded and Angel was lucky enough to have one. It’s rare for any photographer and an exceptional hon- our for Angel,” Scougal said. Scougal said five out of a total of 13 entries submitted by nine students re- ceived a rank: three “accepted”, one “merit”, and one “excellent”. 66 It feels awe- some to get some recog- nition for the work we put into this program. ANGEL WONG No lack of energy drinks on campus Chartwells takes up promo offer from Monster Energy because of exam season By KARLY BLATS gy drinks has been dumped in the centre of Langara’s cafeteria this week in preparation for exam season. Stacks of cardboard flats holding dif- ferent kinds of Monster Energy drinks are hard to miss in between the cafete- ria’s salad bar and “Global Village.” Rizwan Bandaili, director of food ser- vices for Chartwells Langara, said rep- resentatives from Monster Energy con- tact Chartwells several times a year with special offers but this is the only time he will allow the ordering of such a large quantity of energy drinks. “We've noticed that energy drinks go by faster during exam times.” Bandali said Monster Energy was specifically chosen because of the en- ergy drink company’s current promo- tion. The final bill made out to Chart- wells will depend on how many of the energy drinks sell. Jason May, founder of Q Energy drinks, said he could not believe Mon- ster Energy drinks are being provided to students during this time. Monster Energy is “so bad for you,” May said. Q Energy is a B.C.-based energy drink company that uses antioxidants, ginseng and green tea extracts, among other natural ingredients in their bev- erages. May said staying focused when studying becomes difficult after having too much caffeine. Energy drinks contain caffeine, sug- ar, artificial sweeteners and amino ac- ids. According to Health Canada, some sensitive individuals might experience side effects such as insomnia, head- aches, irritability and nervousness from caffeine-rich consumables. The average 500ml can of Monster has 160 mg of caffeine. According to a health file put out by Health BC, “Healthy adults can safely consume up to 400 mg of caffeine per day.” Ae shipment of Monster Ener- Langara community garden in bloom Three-year-old garden offers plots to Langara stu- dents, campus neighbours By DAVID LA RIVIERE are arming themselves with gloves and trowels, as they once again wage war on the winter-hardened soil of Langara’s community garden. Langara’s community garden was started three years ago as a way to pro- mote community and student partici- pation in environmentally sustainable practices. The plots are available to students and neighbours at $15 a year for the smaller four-by-eight foot plots and $25 for the eight-by-eight plots. Plot permissions are bought in Lee students and neighbours March at the beginning of the growing season, and expire in March of the fol- lowing year. Mario Moniz de Sa, assis- tant chair of Langara’s biology depart- ment, helped build the garden and continues to keep track of what is be- ing grown in the plots. “Tt varies at any given time. If you go there in July you might find at least 25 different types of vegetables being grown. People just want something to cultivate,” said Moniz de Sa. He added that gardeners are given lots of leeway in what they can plant, but among the list of banned plants are mints, due to their tendency to take over gardens, and marijuana. The popularity of community gar- dens in Vancouver has been growing rapidly in the past few years and a new wave of city gardeners has begun to emerge. City Beet Farms, which started last year, turns Vancouver’s front and back yards into miniature organic farms that grow 50 different types of vegeta- bles throughout the year. A portion of the vegetables grown in the yards ev- ery week are given to the owners of the property while the rest are sold by City Beets Farms to members of their com- munity food box program. City Beets Farms was started by two UBC graduates with a passion for farm- ing and community development. “Living in a city it’s hard to find com- munity in different ways.” said Katie Ralphs, co-founder of Vancouver's City Beet Farm. “Food is such an easy thing to con- nect with people over. If you have a community garden you're all there be- cause you want to eat food. You’re all there growing it yourself.” ~ DAVID LA RIVIERE photo Trina Todoran, at Plot 19, tends to her parsley, parsnips and dill in the Langara community garden.